Linda from Go Philanthropic has found two girls sponsors

Linda from Go Philanthropic was here in Hoi An recently to visit CEF children who are sponsored by Go Philanthropic supporters and to be involved with our work here in Vietnam during her visit. 

Amongst the many things she did, she met two girls; Anh and Hien. Anh was on our waiting list. Linda went to her home and was involved in her second interview. Hien was recently referred to CEF and Linda was involved in her interview too. 

Within 24 hours of landing back in the States she found them each a sponsor.  This is wonderful news as both these girls need help to be able to continue their education. 

Hien is cared for by her mother and granny, but mum has cancer. Their home looks fine from the front, but the land at the back has slipped away into a creek and so the rear of the house is unstable. Snakes and rats enter the house at night and make for many bad nights sleep. 

Anh has parents, who are responsible for her and her sister, grandparents and an mentally ill uncle on the wages her mum earns cleaning and from an unpredictable income her father earns fishing. Anh, her sister and parents live in a matting shack. 

Love from CEF

 

Sending love from CEF on Valentine's Day... this card was made by CEF child Van at a recent art class I taught in Hoi An. Wonderful!

 

(Post by Linda DeWolf of Go Philanthropic)

Note 7 from Linda of Go Philanthropic - Time to leave soon

My time in Vietnam is winding down and with this comes the sadness of leaving a beautiful country and beautiful people. The opportunity that I have had to visit with so many sponsored children and their families just reaffirms the critical importance of education in the life of these impoverished children and the importance of the work being done here by CEF.

My thanks to Linda, Quan, Hieu, Ngoc and, of course, Lien, for warmly welcoming me and making my time in central Vietnam so meaningful. I am already dreaming of my next visit....

Note 6 from Linda of Go Philanthropic - Visit to the relocated Hoa Van children

Yesterday 2 other volunteers, CEF staff Ngoc and I drove to Da Nang to visit 14 children and their families who had previously lived in Hoa Van Village. This village was designated as a leprosy village some years ago but now it seems the government wants the land back so they have compensated and relocated all the families to Da Nang.

 Most of the families now live in "block" houses which are rather dreary buildings, offering little opportunity for residences to continue their life -long livelihood of fishing and gardening .On top of that no skill development is provided. A few even live right next ( I mean right next) to the railroad tracks.

Despite all of this, most of the children seem happier to me than last year as they are all closer to school and friends and some have been re-united with families after some years of living with relatives during term time to be able to attend secondary education. All were happy to receive their TET "lucky" money from us too.

I do worry about what kind of future many of these families and children have….

Note 5 from Linda of Go Philanthropic - Interview Visits

Today team member Hieu and I visited 3 beautiful young girls and their families to assess their suitability for sponsorship. The CEF assessment process is very thorough and provides so much insight into each child's unique situation. It is also heart wrenching when one sees "up close and personal" the living conditions of some of these families. 

The first girl-Trinh - is in 8th grade and is very, very smart (ranked second in her class). Her mom, who often is ill with asthma, earns a meager living by selling sand and making the famous Hoi An lanterns. Trinh is fatherless. Their home is one room plus a very basic kitchen...no bathroom, no bedroom.

 The second girl, Hien, is a real charmer...always smiling and dancing. Her father left when Hien was born and she lives with her granny and mom (who has cancer). Again, their home is very basic and practically sliding into the creek behind them. At night they are afraid to sleep because of the snakes that come into the house from the creek bed. Hien is very artistic and gets high marks in English, science and Vietnamese.

The last girl we visited, Anh, already has a sister supported by CEF. Anh's mom works as a cleaner and her father is a fisherman. They live in a hut which lets many of the elements in.

These visits provided me with a new appreciation for the work CEF does and for the very difficult situations of many of these children. I see what a difference our support can make...

Note 4 from Linda of Go Philanthropic - Visiting 3 Go sponsored children

 

I loved visiting 3 beautiful girls sponsored by Go Philanthropic Foundation donors on Saturday...Here is Thanh Kim (who is studying tourism in Hue), Truong (studying accounting in Da Nang) and Truc (here,studying how to ride a bike!)...Thanks to our donors for their generous support. It does, indeed, make a difference!